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This article is focused on describing what POS software is, how it works, what's it for, tips when buying. If you want to understand what POS software is, you should first get familiar with the definition of POS. POS means point of sale or point of service, which is practically any place where transactions occur, like the cashing register of a retail shop or a checkout counter. As it follows from the definition,pos terminals can be found in restaurants, hotels, bars, shops, stores, malls. POS stands for both the hardware and software which make up the whole system. If you examine a given POS system, you will see that it's divided in two parts - hardware and software. Since we are discussing pos software in this article, let's start with a brief description of the history behind pos software. The early electronic cash registers had a special computer application, which provided some extra features, although they were quite limited compared to today's standards. But the main idea is that the ability to program a point of sale terminal allowed developers to be more creative and made way for a lot of new concepts, such as real time labor and food cost reports. A protocol is a predefined set of rules which computers follow when engaged in communication with one another. POS terminals communicate with other devices (peripherals) using a given protocol, so we can say that the protocol is the language that computers speak. Every pos software comes with a support of a certain protocol, so that it can succesfully interact with peripheral devices, such as POS printer, a bar-code scanner, and a credit/debit card reader. Some of the popular POS communication command protocols are EPSON Esc/POS, ADM 787/788, DSP-800, CD 5220. In an attempt to guarantee the compatibility between the different devices, pos software developers have to meet certain standards. Microsoft, NCR, Epson, and Fujitsu-ICL developed the first pos software standard, called OPOS. People know it as "OLE for POS", because it's based on Microsoft's COM technology, which makes OPOS language independent. The next industry standards was made by SUN, IBM and NCR, under the name JavaPOS. JavaPOS is programmed on JAVA, so it's platform independent. Of course, the article wouldn't be complete if we don't mention some of the benefits of pos software. The main one is the increase of your profits. Another major benefit is the reduction of inventory costs. POS software will also improve customer service. Efficiency will also be maximized with as minimum as 20%, becuase it automates repetitive tasks. Considering the amount of places where you can find pos terminals nowaways, it comes as no surprise to know that there is plenty of competition in the pos software industry. The final buying decision is never easy, as there are plenty of models to choose from, but nevertheless, there are several factors which should determine what you buy. First you should take into account the turnover of your business. The second factor is the type of industry in which you operate. Have in mind that it's a good idea to make a research on as many models as you can and check with the retailers that are already using a given model. Most POS software applications are for Windows. Linux and MAC come second and although they might be more stable and reliable, choices are fairly limimted as there isn't that many pos programs written for UNIX machines. Therefore, you will probably get a better shot at Windows pos software and if you have the system configured correctly, Windows systems can operate for months without a problem. POS software is available for support Windows 95, 2000, or XP, although some will support XP.
Article Source: http://www.a1-optimization.com/articles
Check out POS Hardware for more articles covering a wide range of POS topics. Author - Steve Arbor Jones. This article is available as a unique content article with free reprint rights.
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